Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya memilih buku penting di perpustakaan. - I choose an important book at the library.

In Malay, adjectives follow the noun they modify. The pattern is Noun + Adjective, so buku penting literally means “book important.” Placing penting before buku (i.e. penting buku) is ungrammatical in Malay.

Why is there no word for a or the before buku? How do you express “a book” or “the book”?

Malay does not use articles like a, an, or the. Nouns are unmarked for definiteness or indefiniteness. If you need to specify “one book,” you can add a classifier such as sebuah or satu:
• Saya memilih sebuah buku penting di perpustakaan.
This means “I choose an important book at the library.” Definite meaning (“the book”) is understood from context or by adding words like itu (“that”).

How do you show tense in Malay? Does memilih mean present or past?

Malay verbs do not inflect for tense. Time is indicated by context or by adding time markers:
• Present: Saya memilih buku penting di perpustakaan hari ini. (“I am choosing… today.”)
• Past: Saya sudah memilih buku penting di perpustakaan. (“I have chosen…”)
• Future: Saya akan memilih buku penting di perpustakaan esok. (“I will choose… tomorrow.”)

Why is the verb memilih and not just pilih?

Malay uses the meN- prefix to form active verbs. The prefix assimilates to the initial consonant of the root:
• Roots beginning with p drop the p and take mem-, so pilih + meN- → memilih (“to choose”).

What’s the difference between di perpustakaan and ke perpustakaan?

• di marks a static location (“at/in”): di perpustakaan = “at the library.”
• ke marks direction or movement (“to”): ke perpustakaan = “to the library.”

Can I drop saya in this sentence? Would it still make sense?

Yes. Malay is a pro-drop language. If the subject is clear from context, you can omit saya:
• Memilih buku penting di perpustakaan.
However, including saya in a full sentence (Saya memilih…) makes your meaning explicit.

How do I say “I choose several important books at the library”?

You can indicate plurality with reduplication (buku-buku) or quantifiers like beberapa:
• Saya memilih beberapa buku penting di perpustakaan.
• Saya memilih buku-buku penting di perpustakaan.

Why not say buku yang penting instead of buku penting?

You can use yang to form a relative clause (buku yang penting), but for simple adjective modification Malay prefers Noun + Adjective without yang. Using yang makes it more like “the book which is important” rather than just “important book.”